Uruguayan authorities have announced that they will soon establish a registry of marijuana users, the latest step in a long process of realizing historic drug policy reforms approved nearly three years ago that legalized the sale of the drug for recreational use.

The recent arrest of individuals linked to Mexico's Los Cuinis criminal organization has drawn attention to organized crime's presence in Uruguay and the role of foreign drug traffickers in the deterioration of the country's security indicators.

Uruguay Profile

Known as "the Switzerland of Latin America," Uruguay has some of the lowest crime rates and strongest state institutions in the region. At the same time, however, the historically peaceful country is undergoing a steady rise in crime and insecurity, much of which is linked to drug trafficking and small-scale gang activity. The country -- which is testing some of the most liberal laws regarding drug production, distribution and consumption -- is under a microscope to see whether changing drug laws can impact crime levels.

Uruguayan authorities have announced that they will soon establish a registry of marijuana users, the latest step in a long process of realizing historic drug policy reforms approved nearly three years ago that legalized the sale of the drug for recreational use.

The recent arrest of individuals linked to Mexico's Los Cuinis criminal organization has drawn attention to organized crime's presence in Uruguay and the role of foreign drug traffickers in the deterioration of the country's security indicators.

A rise in attempted arms thefts from Uruguay's military barracks in 2016 has sparked debate over the criminal nature of the perpetrators involved, and again drawn attention to the country's role as a source of weapons for regional arms traffickers.

Uruguayan authorities have arrested several suspects linked to Mexico crime group Los Cuinis, a move that could shed light on some previously obscure aspects of the organization's international operations.

Newly leaked documents from a Panama-based law firm connect a member of FIFA's ethics commission to three individuals facing bribery charges over deals to secure marketing and broadcast rights for soccer events in Latin America.

Almost two years after passing legislation to legalize the growth and sale of marijuana, Uruguay’s government says the country is almost ready to begin commercialization. The process has been slowed by political and regulatory challenges, but may yet serve as a model for other Latin American countries seeking drug policy reform.

An in-depth study into the costs of crime and violence in Latin America concludes that they have a profound economic impact in the region, costing nations an average of three percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year.

Investigations

When considering the possibilities that the FARC may break apart, the Ivan Rios Bloc is a helpful case study because it is perhaps the weakest of the FARC's divisions in terms of command and control, and therefore runs the highest risk of fragmentation and criminalization.

On May 27, 1964 up to one thousand Colombian soldiers, backed by fighter planes and helicopters, launched an assault against less than fifty guerrillas in the tiny community of Marquetalia. The aim of the operation was to stamp out once and for all the communist threat in...

If we are to believe the Colombian government, the question is not if, but rather when, an end to 50 years of civil conflict will be reached. Yet the promise of President Juan Manuel Santos that peace can be achieved before the end of 2014 is simply...

The FARC have always had a love-hate relationship with drugs. They love the money it brings, funds which have allowed them to survive and even threaten to topple the state at the end of the 1990s. They hate the corruption and stigma narcotics have also brought to...

In August 2002, the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) greeted Colombia's new president with a mortar attack that killed 14 people during his inauguration. The attack was intended as a warning to the fiercely anti-FARC newcomer. But it became the opening salvo of...

Ricardo Mauricio Menesses Orellana liked horses, and the Pasaquina rodeo was a great opportunity to enjoy a party. He was joined at the event -- which was taking place in the heart of territory controlled by El Salvador's most powerful drug transport group, the Perrones -- by the...

The United States -- which through its antinarcotics, judicial and police attaches was very familiar with the routes used for smuggling, and especially those used for people trafficking and understood that those traffickers are often one and the same -- greeted the new government of Elias Antonio...

In October 2012, the US Treasury Department designated the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) as a transnational criminal organization (TCO). While this assertion seems unfounded, there is one case that illustrates just why the US government is worried about the future.

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About Us

InSight Crime is a foundation

dedicated to the study of the principal threat to national and citizen security in Latin America and the Caribbean: organized crime. We seek to deepen and inform the debate about organized crime in the Americas by providing the general public with regular reporting, analysis and investigation on the subject and on state efforts to combat it.